If you are reading this as the most recent post, read the post two below first. It is part 1 of 3 of our Great Ocean Road Trip. Then there is part 2 of 3. This is part 3 of 3. If you read these to fill empty time in your day I suggest one a day, they're long.
We awoke after our 12 apostle experience to the sun finally shining and limited clouds. We set off for the place we were told you could surf with the whales, and we were stoked! We were a little worried because the previous day there had been 20 foot swells, which, if you are not familiar with surf swells, is like a house sized wave when you're surfing and at the bottom of it. When you look out into the ocean it looks angry... very angry. We got to the spot and we happy to see the waves were down a bit, probably to about 10 foot swells. We looked out and the whales were literally 150 yards off the coast. If the sea was calm you could easily swim out there with no board (though not recommended). We were a little let down to not see any surfers out, but we went in to town to rent some boards and try our luck.
Our Luck: nobody in town rents surfboard.
However, there was a town 20 minutes up the road that rented them... so we started the engine back up. We got into the next town about 20 minutes before the surf shop opened so we got some coffee and bakery goods at a the pace next store. This place was sweeeeetttt. I wanted to take some pictures of it... but I refrained since my camera was in the car.
The shop opened, we rented the boards and wet suits and had to purchase some straps to tie them to the roof and we were on our way back. We got back, strapped on our suits and headed to the beach. Still no surfers out... not good. We walked down the beach looking for a calmer spot, but the sea was still pretty angry. We stopped at a spot that looked decent and decided to try our luck. I was about to step in and looked up to see about 100-150 yards off the coast a GIANT and i do emphasize GIANT dorsal fin. I haven't seen jaws, but I know what a GIANT shark is. I also know what a normal size whale is. Both are GIANT. Needless to say, I was reluctant to get into the water.
Everyone else (who were obviously eyeless) went right in. They didn't make it out to far though, the waves were a bit too crazy. So I joined in the fun only to find that the covering I had on (previously thought to be a wet suit) would be better described as a mesh wet suit. It wasn't mesh, but the point of the wet suit is to have no tears in it so water can't get in. My wet suit obviously didn't get the memo, so I FREEZED MY BALLS OFF. Our surfing was unsuccessful, but we yearned to surf, so we headed into town to ask about a better surf beach.
We got poor directions (as we had now come to expect) and were driving around when we saw an elderly couple exiting a place that looked possibly like a beach. We asked them if there was one there. There wasn't but they were extremely nice and got in there car and let us follow them to one. We thanked them and headed off for round two.
Round Two: freezing Dillon, giant waves. I reached the crest point where the waves stop after being smashed by a few and was very happy to be able to finally take a break. I sat on my board for a bit just enjoying the ocean, though it was far less enjoyable while being an ice ocean until I thought I had gained my strength back up to catch a wave. I didn't really and just kind of unsuccessfully caught little bits of waves and drifted back to shore.
We dryed off and headed back into town to find a hostel. We asked around and called around finally landing on a hostel with an open 4 bed room for $25 a person. It was a little odd, it was located above a local pub filled with old men and definitely didn't have the hostel feel. We got the "only room left" which was in the very back of the place with no light down our corridor. We had all seen that horror movie before and were a bit skeptical of the place. The room was super nice and even had a TV and DVD player... more skepticism.
We went out that night into this very odd town for dinner. It was fine, then we walked down the road to find a happening bar. While walking in front of a masonic temple we heard loud music coming from what seemed like the alley. We continued on and after turning the corner we heard it louder... we inquired and found an opening with loud music. There was a sign that hung in the alley with creepy spray painted writing that spelled out "thirsty?" We were, so we went on. The door guy told us we were welcome, but it probably wasn't going to be our crowd. We entered into a room full of screaming, hands in air, church goes and a band on stage singing songs with lyrics such as "praise him, praise him, he is great." We had seen that horror movie before too, and in agreement with the door man, quickly exited.
We found another bar that seemed more our style. We got a drink and a big guy came up super friendly and had a chat with us. It reminded us of a small town Texas bar... for the Irish. There was a team of rowdy netball player there. If you are unfamiliar with the game netball, it is a women's game that is like basketball with not backboard where contact is not aloud AT ALL. You are not even aloud to play defense, it is stupid.
This particulat netball team was extremely trashy... and drunk. We chatted with a few of them, they came in flocks. Some came up to talk with us and other left, then the same ones would come back, some would stay, some would go, it was interesting. Then one whispered into my ear "oh my god, he is so sexy, I don't even know what to say, he is the sexiest man I've ever seen" talking about our friend Ian. Lucky for him he had a good excuse... and girlfriend. This girl was CRAZY and kept coming over throughout the night as her friends tried to pull her away... and she struggled to get Ian to take her home. He was a real good sport. Another girl who was probably the best looking, but just as trashy stayed around a lot and when she ran out of things to talk about we found out what Australians think of black people.
Ash is black. We found her quite entertaining, in an extremely disgusting racist way. She had no censor. She told us about black people in America (in strong, drunk Aussie accent): "Oh yeah, all you Americans just eat cheeseburgers all day long wif eight patties and lots of cheese, and all the black people sell crack and have guns. They just sit in bed all day with a bucket of fried chicken running down their face..." It was fairly extreme... but we had a good time at her expense after this display. Ash wasn't offended, we all had a good laugh.
(Mother, grandma, etc. you might want to not read this part as it is distasteful and graphic). When I said she had no censor... I meant it. Not even a black censor bar when all the booze gave her shirt anti-gravity. She was not to be outdone by the girl who was in love with Ian. She followed quickly behind her friend. We were having a great time... and I think everyone else was jealous. That wasn't the end of their rowdiness though.
(Mother, grandma, etc. you may continue) Another team of netballers (who were quiet and reserved) came in and all sat around a big table in the middle. The rowdy team couldn't keep the shit talking down though and it came out rapidly in full force. It got to the point where one girl stood up on the table and started kicking the other teams drinks off at them. She was escorted out promptly. Then it was getting late... so we headed back to the hostel.
We arrived, same creepy crowd downstairs + band playing right below our room. We went upstairs and there was a weird guy standing in front of a door... not entering, and asked us how we were doing. We were all a bit tipsy at this point and a bit skeptical about our surroundings. The fact that only one of our windows had a cage over it and the other window didn't lock well didn't ease our discomfort any. It was pretty trippy. However; I knew that Derek would be tripping more than I would be... so after lying awake for a bit I went to sleep. I awoke in the morning to confirm my suspicions. Derek was awake on watch and slept only a couple of hours... that silly boy.
We set out again to surf with the whales! This time it was even colder, it actualy got warmer when we got into the water. Bad sign. We swam and swam and the waves crashed and sent us back. I got to one point where I looked up at a wave cresting in front of me and directly behind it I saw a blowhole spout up out of the water. I decided this was close enough for me. WHALES ARE HHUUUGGGGEEEE. Much bigger than I could fathom. I turned around and returned back to warm myself in the car. Ian and Derek stayed out for a bit longer.. unsuccessfully.
The rest of that day we drove up in the Grampians Mountains, which were cool, then headed back to Melbourne for the final two days. We saw a kangaroo in Grampians and Ian went out to get a closer look, eventually forcing it to stand up and start scratching it's stomach and genitals at Ian... we thought he was done for. Luckily he came back to us and it turned and walked away. We also saw an Emu with it's children, and echidna which are real cool, and some neat things along the way. We talked about science, evolution, and the ever expanding Earth. It was a good time. That night we got drunk and played numerous games of pacman and galaga. We spent the next day exploring Melbourne and then returned home safely the following morning.
Now starts my two weeks completely full of work, which will suck. Then I'm pretty much done. My birthday is tomorrow, Dad is coming to visit a little after we finish school, we will see the reef with him then head to New Zealand. Blickity Blou.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment